In order to support hybrid teaching at CSM, new technology is been installed in various rooms. This includes a microphone, speakers and video camera. This is being led by Arya and his team. Technical support for the session was provided by two learning technologists, one physically present in C202 (Damien) and one online (Tim).
On Friday, students arrived for their first MBA hybrid weekend. We have a total of 27 students, 10 of whom were online. The weekend included many online group activities which involved both Miro and Padlet. The even took place over 3 full days. Because the room (C202) is still being fitted out, we need to use a manual video camera on a trip. This was placed at the edge of the room so that it could be turned to show either the tutor or the students. Once installed by Arya and his team, the room will have its own dedicated video camera mounted on the ceiling.
Observations and reflections
Our observations after the first day were based on a general feeling from the online students that their experience was second rate. At the beginning of day two the tutors and learning technologists had a debrief to look at how various issues might be addressed.
Audio
We found that for the online students it was difficult to hear any student input. To improve this:
- we drew a circle with tape on the floor and asked staff to stand within this so that they could be properly heard.
- asked students who wanted to contribute to leave their seat and stand within the circle.
- If students did ask a short question without coming up to the microphone, then the tutor would repeat the question.
Classroom Inclusion
Our camera was on a tripod and was controlled manually. The view from the camera needed to reflect where the ‘action’ was taking place in the room. For example focused on the tutor when information was being delivered but on the students when appropriate.
Collaborative activities in breakout groups
Students were regularly put into various predefined Collaborate Ultra breakout groups by the online learning technologist. This administrative task slowed the beginning of the online activities which in some instances, was only 10 minutes, half of which might be spent getting people into the right groups. We then decided to enable the ‘Allow attendees to switch groups’ option so that students could independently put themselves into groups. This seemed to be a much better way of working however we did find that a couple of students were not able to move themselves (did they log in as guest?) and so needed to be manually moved. An alternative solution would be to set up completely separate Collaborate rooms which we also tried, and this lent itself to longer group working activities.
Summing up
In terms of the student experience, a lot of preparation went into the weekend and activities needed to be adapted to suit the hybrid teaching environment. We observed that when students collaborated in the Miro or Padlet online activities, that contribution from both the face to face and online students to any of the group presentations was the same. Where the presentation just involved working in breakout rooms and then feeding back to the whole group, the presentation tended to be dominated by the face students.
Future considerations
- What examples if any might Teams have offered?
- How might a successful hybrid session be delivered with less support?